Martinsville Marks Milestones: Longevity and performance are hallmarks in the career of #5-Mark Martin due to celebrate his 800th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Martin's signature start comes nearly to the day of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup appearance (April 5, 1981) at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway where the then 22-year-old Batesville, Ark., native finished 27th. Over the course of 29 seasons, Martin has:
" Won 40 NASCAR Sprint Cup races and posted 96 victories across three national series, tops among active drivers.
" Finished among the top three in NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings nine times, most recently in 2009 when he finished second.
" Martin is only the eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup competitor to reach the 800-start plateau and likely will pass Darrell Waltrip (seventh with 809) and Kyle Petty (fifth with 829) later this year. His combined 1,055 national-series starts are second only to the 1,185 appearances of NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty.
Martin isn't the only NASCAR Sprint Cup driver celebrating career milestones at Martinsville.
" #16-Greg Biffle and #1-Jamie McMurray will mark career starts No. 300. Biffle, a former NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, will make his 625th national series appearance.
" #14-Tony Stewart remains one top-10 shy of career No. 250.
Additionally, Kyle Busch could reach yet another lap-leader milestone in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500. Busch, who celebrated his 10,000 NASCAR Nationwide Series lap led on March 19 at Bristol Motor Speedway, is 332 laps from leading his 20,000th across the three national series.(NASCAR)(3-30-2011)

At Martinsville Speedway::
· Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.
· The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was Sept. 25, 1949.
· The track was paved in 1955.
· The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.
· Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976.
· There have been 124 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.
· Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.
· Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
· 55 drivers have won poles, led by Darrell Waltrip with eight. Jeff Gordon, with seven poles, can tie that mark this weekend.
· Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record, each with three.
· 45 different drivers have won, led by Richard Petty's 15.
· Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with seven wins. Jimmie Johnson has six and Denny Hamlin has four.
· 19 races have been won from the pole, the last by Denny Hamlin in October 2010.
· Petty Enterprises has won 19 races, more than any other organization. Hendrick Motorsports, with 18 wins, can tie that mark this weekend.
· Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
· Three active drivers average a top 10: Jimmie Johnson (5.3), Denny Hamlin (6.0) and Jeff Gordon (7.0).
* There have been 270 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.
* 160 drivers in NASCAR's three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Virginia.
* There have been 18 race winners from Virginia in NASCAR's three national series.(NASCAR)(3-30-2011)

Numbers for Martinsville Speedway:
1 fewest cautions for a Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway (three times, most recent 4/25/71)
1 fewest cars on lead lap at the finish of a race at the .526-mile track (27 times, most recent 4/27/86)
2 fewest leaders for a race (11 times, most recent 9/26/76)
3 fewest caution laps for a race (4/25/71)
4 number of jet dryers available for track drying this weekend
14 most leaders for a race (10/15/01)
15 wins by Richard Petty, most by a driver
19 races won from the pole; 34 from the front row
21 most cautions for a race (10/21/07)
26 most cars on the lead lap at finish (twice, most recent 10/22/06)
28 cautions for two Sprint Cup races at Martinsville last year; 13 for Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 and 15 for TUMS Fast Relief 500
75 minutes, minimum amount of time it takes to dry the .526-mile track after a significant rainfall.
124 Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway since 1949
127 ---most caution laps (10/21/07)
265 number of cautions during 36-race 2010 season; 140 for accidents2011 Caution Update
45 number of cautions in the first five Sprint Cup races of 2011; 28 for accidents
211 of 1,487 laps run under caution in 2011
307.881 of 1,899.000 miles under caution in the first five racesAND: Nine Virginia tracks have hosted 270 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races (does not include convertible events) through the years dating back to the early 1950s. Two tracks remain on the schedule Martinsville (124) and Richmond (109). Of the seven tracks that are no longer on the Sprint Cup calendar, Boston Speedway hosted 10 events, Langley Field Speedway nine and Old Dominion Speedway seven. The other four tracks had a total of 11 races.(Dodge Motorsports)(4-1-2011)

Practice Dates/Times/Television coverage

Qualifying Information/Times/Television coverage

Qualifying Draw: none, qualifying order is set by practice speeds, if rained out, then by points

Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-42, Saturday, April 2 at 12:10 pm/et, TV-SPEED, re-air at 8:00pm/et;
AND live via radio at MRN Radio only on NASCAR.com.

RACE RUNDOWN....news and links

Harvick wins at Martinsville: #29-Kevin Harvick won the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway for his 2nd win of 2011 ]and in a row] and 16th win of his career. It is Richard Childress Racing's first win at Martinsville since Dale Earnhardt won there in 1995.
#88-Earnhardt Jr. finished second followed by #18-Busch, #42-Montoya, #24-Gordon, #17-Kenseth, #1-McMurray [the pole sitter], #6-Ragan, #33-Bowyer and #5-Martin.
There were a record 31 lead changes among 12 drivers; 11 cautions for 72 yellow flag laps. The attendance is listed as 60,000 up a tad from last years 58,000 which was rain delayed until Monday when 40,000 came back to watch the raceScheduled Race Re-Air: SPEED, Wednesday, April 6 at 12:00pm/et
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski's Martinsville Race Results/Awards page.(4-3-2011)

Race Fast Facts - Martinsville:
#29-Kevin Harvick won the 62nd Annual Goody's Fast Relief 500, his 16th victory in 364 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2011. This is the second time in his career that Harvick has won consecutive races. The last was September, 2006.
This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 20 races at Martinsville Speedway.
#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. (second) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 23 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2011.
#18-Kyle Busch (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 13 races at Martinsville Speedway.
There were 31 lead changes, a new track record. The previous record was 25, set Sept. 28, 1980.(NASCAR Statistics)(4-3-2011)

Penalty Report - Martinsville:Car#, Lap, Reason, Penalty
#17, 1, Passing on a start or restart, Pass Thru
#34, 53, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#83, 54, Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
#7, 56, Commitment Line Violation, Tail of Field
#36, 108, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#36, 108, Intentionally causing a caution, Held 2 laps
#9, 176, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#5, 181, Passing on a start or restart, Pass Thru
#71, 205, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#9, 205, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#71, 225, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#36, 231, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#9, 233, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#47, 236, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#34, 236, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#47, 242, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#47, 242, Removing equipment from assigned pit area, Tail of Field
#14, 247, Passing on a start or restart, Pass Thru
#13, 352, Pitting out of order, Tail of Field
#21, 353, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#1, 353, Lug nut(s) not installed, Must Come In
#39, 372, Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
#48, 467, Speed-Entering pits, Tail of Filed
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-3-2011)

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #1-McMurray chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #39-Newman took pit stall 11, the next stall with an opening in front of it.
#4-Kahne, who starts 3rd took the 10th pit stall, the first stall with an opening behind it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #27-Menard, who starts 16th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(4-2-2011)

NASCAR Green-White-Checkered Race Procedure: NASCAR allows a maximum of three restart attempts prior to the White Flag under NASCAR's Green-White-Checkered flag finish. If the leader has taken the White Flag and the caution flag is displayed, the field is frozen and the race will not be restarted. Previously, there was only one restart attempt. The procedure applies to all three national series. See rule and notes on the Green-White-Checker rule page.(2-11-2010)

Wave-around rule: The wave-around rule dictates that cars under penalty at the time of the caution are ineligible for the wave around.(10-11-2009)

McMurray wins Martinsville pole: #1-Jamie McMurray won the Coors Light pole for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway with a speed of 96.509mph. It is his 1st pole of the season, his first pole at Martinsville and 8th of his career [he failed to win from the pole the 7 other times]. #39-Newman starts 2nd followed by #4-Kahne, #20-Logano, #11-Hamlin, #43-Allmendinger, #47-Labonte, #00-Reutimann, #29-Harvick and #78-Smith.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #36-Blaney, #38-Kvapil, #66-McDowell, #87-Nemechek, #60-Skinner, #37-Raines, #46-Yeley and #71-Sadler.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (1): #92-Setzer who withdrew after wrecking in practice.
See the starting lineup, qualifying speeds and notes on my Martinsville Starting Lineup/Qualifying Results page.(4-2-2011)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Martinsville:
#1-Jamie McMurray won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 62nd Annual Goody's Fast Relief 500 with a lap of 19.621 seconds, 96.509 mph.
This is his eighth pole in 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2011.
This is his first pole in 17 races at Martinsville Speedway. This is also McMurray's first career short track pole.
#39-Ryan Newman (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011 and his 13th in 19 races at Martinsville Speedway.
#4-Kasey Kahne (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third in six races this season.(NASCAR Statistics)(4-2-2011)

Qualifying Order for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted. 44 cars/drivers are listed. Go-or-go homers will qualify at the end of the session, once the top-35 drivers are done.
The first of the top-35 drivers scheduled to go out is #32-Schrader.
The final top-35 driver scheduled to go out is #6-Ragan.
The first go-or-go homer scheduled to qualify [36th] is #37-Raines with the final driver scheduled to qualify being #36-Blaney.
Qualifying order is set by practice speeds, with the top 35 drivers going out from slowest to fastest, then the non-top 35 drivers go out, slowest to fastest in practice(s).
See the full qualifying order on the Martinsville Qualifying Page.(4-2-2011)

incidents: #20-Logano wrecked and will go to a backup car. #92-Setzer lost the brakes and wrecked hard, he is ok, but the car is totaled and he says the team doesn't have a backup car, so will have 43 cars going for 43 spots on Saturday in qualifying.
See practice speeds, average speeds, laps run on the Martinsville Practice Speeds Page.(4-1-2011)

The Entry List for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted, 44 teams/drivers [for 43 spots] are listed, including:
2011 Owners Points are used after the 5th race which was Auto Club Speedway.
Three teams moved into the top 35 that were not in: #09 Phoenix Racing, #13 Germain Racing and #32 FAS Lane Racing [a new team for 2011].
Three teams dropped out: #71 TRG Motorsports, #37 Front Row and #38 Front Row.Not in top 35 of owners points:
#36-Dave Blaney (37/5)
#37-Tony Raines (38/5)
#38-Travis Kvapil (39/5)
#46-J.J. Yeley (41/5)
#60-Mike Skinner (42/5)
#66-Michael McDowell (45/5)
#71-Hermie Sadler (36/5)
#87-Joe Nemechek (43/5)
#92-Dennis Setzer (44/4)withdrew:
#75-Derrike Cope (0/0)In the event that all practices and qualifying are all rained out or cancelled:
the eight who would make it [8]: #'s 71,36,37,38,46,60,87,66
missing the race would be [2]: #'s 92, 75
See the full entry list at my Jayski's Martinsville Entry List.(3-28/4-1-2011)

Some Chassis Selections by Teams for this race

Chassis selections for Martinsville: see the list of many teams and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend on the Martinsville Race Info page - Chassis selection area:#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the #1 WIDIA team will bring chassis #1007 to Martinsville. McMurray ran this chassis in both the 2010 spring and fall races at Martinsville and Richmond. McMurray will be making his 300th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Martinsville.#2-Brad Keselowski: The #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-740 during Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This is a new chassis to the #2 team. Have a Beer with that Dog will be the featured tag line on the bumper of the "Blue Deuce" this weekend in Martinsville. One of the most well-known traditions in NASCAR is the Martinsville Speedway hot dog. What goes better with a hot dog than a Miller Lite?#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-747 is a brand new chassis; The backup is RK-730 last ran Las Vegas and finished 22nd.#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for the 500-lap race at Martinsville Speedway. This DeWalt Ford Fusion is brand new.#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-637 is a brand new racecar that has only seen track time via a March 14 test at the half-mile Little Rock Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. The Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway will mark its first race of any kind.#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-725 last raced at Phoenix, Kenseth will pilot the #17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion.#20-Joey Logano: #303 to the paperclip this weekend for the 500-lap race. This is a new short-track chassis for the team. The back-up chassis is #275 that Logano most recently drove to a sixth-place finish at Martinsville in October. The Home Depot associates from store #6377 from Destin, FL store number will ride along with Logano this weekend on the rear quarter panel of The Home Depot Toyota at Martinsville Speedway.#22-Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing "Double-Deuce" team will be racing their "PRS-741" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. This is a brand new chassis that the team tested with last Tuesday (March 22) at Gresham Motorsports Park, the half-mile asphalt oval located near Jefferson, Ga. "We should be good to go with this new car," offered crew chief Addington. "We used the Gresham test as a good shakedown for the car, so when we unload there at Martinsville on Friday we should be able to really get after it. The format is a little different this time around, with practice on Friday and qualifying on Saturday. We'll utilize most of the time on getting our race trim dialed in. As always, Sunday's race will be all about exercising patience and having your car in one piece for the final 100 laps."#27-Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 349 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This #27 NIBCO/Menards Chevy is a brand new addition to the RCR fleet, and will see its first laps on the race track during Friday's practice session.#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No.332 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Harvick drove this Chevrolet to a fourth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway in February.#31-Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 319 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built new for 2010, this Caterpillar Chevy was put through its first paces at New Hampshire in September where it finished 15th after running out of fuel with two laps remaining. This #31 racer also competed at Phoenix last November where the team was well on their way to a promising top-10 finish but was forced to pit for fuel with eight laps remaining, relegating them to a 19th-place effort.#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 340 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This BB&T Chevrolet was utilized last month at Phoenix where the #33 team finished 27th after being involved in a 13-car pileup on lap-68.#36-Dave Blaney: will pilot the No. 78 chassis the team ran initially at Phoenix. The TBR team worked diligently to rebuild the car following an incident in Phoenix. The team also ran the chassis at Martinsville and Richmond last season.#39-Ryan Newman After last year's fall race, Newman & Company retired No. 39-492, which had been the team's "Martinsville Special" for four races during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In four starts at Martinsville with that chassis, Newman earned one pole and posted one top-five and two top-10 finishes. This weekend, the #39 team will debut a new chassis No. 39-645 that it hopes will be just as strong at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval. No. 39-645 is a brand new short-track car for the #39 team.#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Brian Pattie and the #42 Target team are bringing chassis #1110 this weekend. This is a brand new chassis.#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 729 for this weekend's event at Martinsville Speedway. This Best Buy Ford Fusion was run previously this season at Phoenix International Raceway.#48-Jimmie Johnson: will pilot chassis No. 653 in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series event. Backup chassis No. 540 crossed the finish line fifth at Phoenix International Speedway in Nov. 2010.#99-Carl Edwards: The #99 will unload RK-726 for the weekend. Edwards raced this car at Phoenix in February where he finished 28th after an accident.
(from team PR's/sites if reported)(3-31-2011)

Notes: Teams in both NASCAR series in action this weekend will run the same tire codes, though the Sprint Cup tires will be branded "Goodyear Eagle," while the Camping World Truck tires will be branded "Goodyear Wrangler" . . . this is the first time these teams have run either of these two tire codes . . . compared to what was run at Martinsville last year, this left-side tire features a tougher compound, while this right-side tire features a softer compound for more grip . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Martinsville.